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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

A young student in class

Promoting girls’ participation in schools: insights from academic research

What actions can countries take to implement or reinforce efforts to increase school participation for girls? Pascaline Dupas (Stanford; Co-Chair, J-PAL’s Health sector) presented evidence from randomized evaluations on interventions that have increased school participation in a recent webinar.
Individual switching business sign to 'open'

How to use data for everyday decisions in a pandemic

To help us make safe, intelligent decisions for how to conduct our everyday lives during the pandemic, we need new data-driven tools to assess risk based on our unique personal profiles and local conditions.
A woman inside a mall looks at her phone.

Using smartphones to trace mobility during regional lockdowns in Indonesia

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Using de-identified location data captured in smartphones, researchers worked with J-PAL Southeast Asia to study movement patterns to analyze how Indonesians changed their behaviors during the initial phases of COVID-19 and during the lockdown.
Indonesian woman sits at a table scrolling through a tablet

Adopsi Layanan Keuangan Digital (LKD) di tengah Pandemi

Perkembangan terbaru di Indonesia semakin memperbesar pentingnya layanan keuangan digital (LKD) terutama potensinya dalam meringankan beban ekonomi akibat pandemi COVID-19. Meskipun informasi anekdotal menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan LKD di tengah pandemi ini sedang meningkat, pembuat kebijakan di...
Indonesian woman sits at a table scrolling through a tablet

Indonesians are turning to digital financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social distancing guidelines in Indonesia and around the world have profoundly impacted many aspects of people’s lives, from the way we communicate to the ways we work, shop, and transact. These shifts have brought the potential of digital financial services as a means of easing some of the economic...
Two female cashiers wearing face masks clean a counter.

Building an effective COVID-19 response: Expanding access to jobs and the social safety net

Job and wage losses in the United States have disproportionately impacted low-income workers, workers of color, and women, setting the stage for pre-existing racial and gendered wealth and wage gaps to widen. The COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative aims to identify effective ways to support...
Two hands holding money and mobile phone to conduct a mobile money transfer

The role of a (digital) universal basic income in supporting pandemic resilience

Does universal basic income (UBI) help vulnerable populations respond to large-shocks, such as COVID-19? J-PAL affiliated researchers recently followed up on a 2017 study to assess the program's impact.
Two people dressed in personal protective equipment administer COVID-19 tests to people inside a car.

Building an effective COVID-19 response: Strategies to improve health care delivery and increase health equity

Better understanding and addressing the social determinants of health is critical to improving individual and population health and advancing health equity. J-PAL North America’s COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative aims to contribute to knowledge in this area by testing strategies to...